140 thousand sustainable jobs for the south east under the Green New Deal says caroline lucas

9 May 2009

140 thousand jobs will be created in the South East along with serious and effective action to tackle the biggest threat the world faces - climate change.

Too good to be true?

If all the policies in the Green Party's 2009 Euro Election manifesto were adopted, this would become a reality WITHIN ONE YEAR.

With recent grim news of hundreds of job cuts in and around Southampton by the likes of Ford and Vestas, the South East Green Party has chosen the city as the venue to launch our Euro election campaign, to unveil our new job figures and explain how we came to them.

The Green MEP for the South East, Caroline Lucas said,

"The current recession, the climate crisis, peak oil, energy security - these problems are all connected. And so are the solutions. Climate change will wreak havoc on our economy. We have no option but to deal with it as a matter of urgency".

As outlined in the Green New Deal weaning our economy off fossil fuels will address the peak oil problem. Creating much greater self-reliance by conserving energy in homes and businesses, and by generating electricity from renewables - will free the UK economy from having to rely on imported oil and gas.

To deal with these major problems it's vital we switch to a Green Economy which is low-carbon and jobs-rich.

Green policies on energy, on transport, on agriculture and on waste management sustain more jobs per megawatt, per mile, per acre and per tonne than the higher-carbon equivalents.

For example:

? Slashing domestic energy by insulating and adding new technology to the South East's existing homes, schools and businesses would create an estimated 11040 jobs for the region.? Increasing the proportion of electricity the UK generates from wind to the same level as Denmark's could create 5,800 jobs by 2020.? Regulation of banks to close tax loopholes would create 140 jobs in the South East.

The South East's Green MEPs will play a leading role in pushing for the EU to adopt more stringent targets on CO2 reductions. Accepting these targets for the UK would mean transforming the British economy - driving a new industrial revolution in the UK and in other European countries.